By Geran Wong

THE current recession has made me more attuned to current affairs and instigated a burning desire to take charge of my financial life.

What disturbed me deeply were newspaper reports about elderly investors hit by the DBS High Notes 5 saga and young families downgrading their homes to cope with wage cuts.

Determined never to put myself in a position where I could lose my life savings or be swamped by expenses and liabilities, I became hell-bent on finding ways to reduce my expenses and effectively manage my money.

A trip to Zouk's Flea and Easy Market triggered it all.

So smitten was I by potential savings from sale items there that I decided to proclaim an austerity drive of sorts.

I started visiting online frugal living forums and reading materials to improve my financial literacy.

From my reading, I have chosen to abide by three basic principles centred on living within one's means: no mortgage, no credit card debt and no liabilities.

If one thing can be learnt from the recent sub-prime mortgage crisis, it would be this: One does not really own a home unless it is paid for in full. As long as there is a mortgage, the bank has a hold on your home if you default on a loan.

Here in Singapore, rental or living with one's parents is the way to go until one has enough money to pay for a home in full.

I have no qualms about living with my folks - even into my 30s - until I have enough to pay in full for my own place.

Credit cards are the easiest traps to fall into. I have seen too many friends who have had their supplementary cards cancelled by their parents within the first six months.

Rather than go with the 'charge now, pay later' credit culture this generation indulges in, I primarily pay in cash or use debit cards to avoid the debt trap.

But my aim to have no liabilities is probably the most controversial.

I am almost adamant about getting a vasectomy, because the single, most costly choice in one's life is starting a family.

Although there is no shortage of incentives to boost birth rates in Singapore, the ever-rising costs of living and education, intense societal pressure to succeed and this global recession have provided strong disincentives for me to even entertain the idea of raising a child, let alone having one.

Asian values of filial piety should not revolve around delivering grandchildren to showboat in front of relatives during Chinese New Year or passing down the family surname.

The main priority is to ensure our parents do not end up in a nursing home surrounded by strangers, so that they can live out their twilight years in dignity.

Choosing between my parents' well-being and societal expectations of raising children is a no-brainer for me. The former will always triumph, and I will feel that I have done my fair share, as long as they are taken care of.

While there are intangible losses in forsaking a family and living on rent, it is a path I am determined to follow, as these three principles allow for something money cannot buy: peace of mind.

Geran Wong, 18, is a pre-university Year 3 arts student at Millennia Institute.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.